Dodgers Linked to Edwin Diaz, Again

Published on by Dennis Schlossman

diaz

Just like they were around the peak of last summer’s trade deadline, the Dodgers have been linked to New York reliever Edwin Diaz ahead of this winter’s Hot Stove season.

While most of the early rumors surrounding the Dodgers this offseason have been based on free agent acquisitions, this is one of the first few which would potentially involve a trade.

Granted, like much of the other gossip swirling these days, the whispers surrounding Diaz are purely hypothetical. A prospective deal was conjured by Joel Sherman of the New York Post, whose main purpose behind his story was to provide a few suggestions for the Mets’ black hole in center field.

Sherman’s proposal involved sending Diaz and aging infielder Jed Lowrie to the Dodgers in exchange for super utility man Enrique Hernandez and righty swing man Ross Stripling.

Unquestionably, this deal is as one-sided as far as the eye can see. Initially, Sherman’s thoughts centered on a deal involving Diaz for Hernandez straight up, but the writer felt that Hernandez alone was not enough of a return for the New York closer.

Indeed, Sherman’s thought process is valid as far as the immediate needs for both clubs go. The Mets need a bonafide center fielder desperately—especially from a defensive standpoint. This is a spot where the jack-of-all trades Hernandez, a defensive specialist in his own right, could certainly thrive. Furthermore, Stripling could conceivably slide into the five-slot in a very talented New York rotation, assuming the spot of new free agent righty Zack Wheeler—another player the Dodgers have been thought to have interest.

For the Dodgers, the notion of bringing in another closer behind Kenley Jansen—or someone who has the ability to close—has been a popular concept dating back to the early stages of the 2019 season. Joe Kelly was once thought to be that guy, but aside from a few glimpses of his old self late in the summer, Kelly was never able to live up to the hype behind his name.

Consequently, Justin Turner has already stated his willingness to slide to first base in the event of an upgrade at the hot corner (see the Anthony Rendon rumors), but Lowrie certainly would not prompt such a move, as Lowrie’s arrival in Los Angeles would be nothing more than a salary dump for New York.

The 35-year-old Lowrie logged just nine big league games for the Mets last year after suffering a knee sprain, a hamstring strain, and a problem with his calf late in the year.

Last season, Diaz registered a dreadful 5.59 ERA, a 1.379 WHIP and a 4.51 FIP for the Mets over 48 appearances in his age-25 season. All this after he led the majors with 57 saves in his brilliant 2018 campaign. That was the season the hard-throwing righty was selected to his first All-Star squad, posting an impressive 1.96 ERA and a 1.61 FIP over an MLB-leading 65 games finished in the process.

While front office boss Andrew Friedman and his team are notoriously infamous for their reclamation projects—especially among pitchers—the retirement of Rick Honeycutt could cause the team to think twice when investing in such players.

At the end of the day, the Dodgers would probably thank Sherman for his concern in helping address the needs at the backend of the Los Angeles bullpen, however ridiculous the return for the Boys in Blue may be.

 

25 thoughts on “Dodgers Linked to Edwin Diaz, Again”

  1. Yeah, the Mets would love that trade. Andy must think Diaz just had an off year. And he’d be right about that.

    Here’s what we can do, trade Kelly for Diaz, suck for suck, and we’ll take Lowrie to even up the money. Lowrie might be ok if he’s healed. He was an All Star in ‘18. And then, we have 3 utility guys. Can’t have too many utility guys, right? I know Friedman likes them. Actually forget all that. This is likely going nowhere.

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  2. That is a interesting trade Kike&Strip for Diaz.
    Does anyone know what happened to Diaz after a previous season of 57 saves. I realize NY is a very tough&rewarding place to play as I am a X NY for years going back to the Dodgers leaving Bklyn.
    Any word????

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    1. I haven’t found anything Larry. He was fine for March/April but after that he gave up earned runs in outing after outing. He pitched regularly all year and while he did keep striking people out, he gave up a lot of hits and a lot of walks. This year may be an outlier year, but last year could have been too. It happens. Barnes OPS’d .895 once. Once. I’m guessing Andy likes him because his pitch speed is 4.1 mph faster than League average and his spin rate is higher than average.

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      2. Good read.

        10x raise after a terrible year. That’s baseball for you.

        Why are we linked to him if he’s not going to be traded?

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  3. Because Joel Sherman decided to hypothize a way to get rid of two bad deals from the Mets and send them to the dodgers, I’m sure it made for good reading, but it was just a “ what if the Mets make this trade” article

    I expect a Lot of this kind of stuff this off season, the dodgers have money to spend, and plenty of players, or prospects that could be used in a trade. Every GM, player agent, and writer are going to be throwing the dodgers name out there to use for their own benefit, or in this case a fabricated Joel Sherman story.

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      1. I liked Morrow, he was nails, but he never made it back last year and missed most of the season. If healthy I would give him an incentive laden deal.

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  4. There will be very few trades, or free agents that the Dodgers aren’t linked to this off season.
    Hey watch out there Larry you’re giving away your age when you start talking about being around for the Brooklyn Dodgers 😀

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    1. What’s wrong with being old and remembering the Dodgers in Brooklyn there young en??? My first Dodger baseball cards were the 1956 set. Had Koufax, Snider and such, had more of the 57’s because I was 9 then and more into the game. Those 57 topps were good looking cards.

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      2. I’m a West Coast guy. But I got to go to Wrigley Field in LA and old Gilmore Field in Hollywood to see the Hollywood Stars and the old LA Angels play. Old PCL teams. My first Dodger game was at the coliseum in 1958. Drysdale was pitching.

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      4. Angels were a Cubs affiliate for a while. Cubs used to train on Catalina Island. Wrigley was on what is now Martin Luther King Blvd, was called Santa Barbara Ave. back then. Stadium was just east of the Harbor Freeway. The Angels played their first season in LA in Wrigley. I saw them play the Tigers there. Vic Wertz hit a homer that still has not come down.

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  6. Those cards would all be worth pretty good money now, my dad used all of his up in the spokes of his bicycle. What was up with you guys and ruining your baseball cards in your spokes?😀

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    1. No one put stars in their spokes, only the dregs. I mean who would be dumb enough to put Willie Mays in his spokes? Or The Mick. Actually you could ruin their worth, although back in those days we did not care about that stuff, by putting rubber bands around them to keep them together. Rubber bands would crease the sides, which in today’s market reduces their worth. What we used to do was flip them. Like playing dice against a wall. If your card landed on another you won all of the cards that were out there. Got a lot of cards that way. 5 cents a pack and gum too. Such a deal. One time at Arroyo Seco park, when we were playing near the big field where the Sherry brothers used to let us shag balls, I was looking behind the backstop green in the dense greenery back there for baseballs, and I found a whole box of open cards. All the Dodgers were missing, bu there were some really good cards in the box. That was in 1959.

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  8. I’ve been reading all morning and I have questions.

    What is it that Friedman values in pitchers above all else. FIP? xFIP? SIERA? GB%. WAR? All of the above and more? I really don’t know.

    But I know what I value. It’s simple. Who gives us the best opportunity to win in October. On this team it’s Buehler and nobody else.

    How do we go into October at full strength?

    I’ve thrown out a few ideas that I think would help. We don’t have a 6 man rotation but in effect we actually sorta did. Only Buehler started 30. Ryu and Kershaw started 29. I’d like to see those numbers drop to 27. 27 starts and average 6 innings is 162 innings pitched. If Buehler and Kershaw only pitch 162 innings they should be well rested in October. How do we pull that off? Depth.

    We can re-sign Ryu for 3 and $51m. Maybe 3 and $48m. Sign Wheeler. Buehler, Kershaw, Wheeler, Ryu, May, May and Gonsolin can maybe split starts and be long out of the pen. We don’t pay anybody $200-300 million but we have a solid staff of starters getting plenty of rest through the dog days. Another option I read this morning is the Rockies Jon Gray may be available. He’s perfect for LA. GB% over 50, and projects 166 IP in ‘20. Rockies have a thin system. Fill it up with A+ prospects. We have plenty. I hear Kluber may be available. He’s perfect for my 6 man rotation. He projects 187 innings. I doubt it, but as a #4 of 6 he could get 160. Give them Pederson.

    If we stack the staff Roberts won’t need to panic and do something stupid in the playoffs. We can do it without having to spend for guys like Cole and Strasburg.

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  9. Some friction showing in the Stros front office. Owner promoted his son, and demoted Nolan Ryan’s kid. So Ryan cut ties with the Stros.

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  10. Scoop if they bring back Ryu, do they really need wheeler also? They already have Urias, May, Gonsolin, and Strippling. One of them takes hills slot, Strippling can spot start, like he has been, the other two can come in to take those rest day spots that you are talking about

    There has been a lot of talk about wheeler, I see a guy that has been mediocre, or hurt often during his career. What am I missing that has him in everyone’s wish list?

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    1. My plan is pitching depth Keith.

      Wheeler has a plus fastball with better than league average spin rates on his curve and slider. He logged 195 innings. He put up, 4+ fWAR and projects 200 innings over 3 WAR for ‘20. He’s listed as the #3 free agent starter behind Cole and Strasburg. Those 2 are going to cost $35m. I think Wheeler can be had for $20 million AAV. I also think he will be in high demand. He’s from Georgia so he may prefer staying on the east coast.

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